Chapter Fifty
Previously:
"Now what?"
Somewhere Below Hogwarts, 26 March, 1991
The door slammed shut loudly behind the children. Adrian rushed to the door, casting the unlocking spell several times. "It won't work, we're trapped!"
"Adrian, duck!" Draco yelled. His brother instantly complied, dropping to the ground and rolling away from the door and into the fetal position as the trolls roared simultaneously, swinging their clubs at the objects of their ire.
Blaise tackled Henry out of the way as a troll nearly smashed him from behind, rolling away as another swung at the spot where he'd rested for a moment.
"Hermione, move!" Daphne shrieked, waving her friend away from her line of sight. She leveled her wand at the third troll. "Diffindo!"
The troll grunted as layers of its thick hide were sliced through, roaring in rage and advancing toward the girls.
"Depulso! Difindo! Wingardium Leviosa!" Hermione and Daphne yelled, slashing their wands and yelling the spells as the troll came closer.
"Defodio!" Draco roared, pointing his wand at the troll's head.
A strange look came over its face as a hole appeared in its forehead, rapidly growing larger and larger until the hole consumed the troll's entire face. It made a disgusting gurgling noise, flailing around and nearly trampling the three first-years. Finally, it slumped to the ground, completely unmoving. Blood pooled around its neck, where only a small portion of the skull remained.
"What in Merlin's name was that?" Hermione gasped.
"Digging spell," Draco called back. "Now move!"
Glancing up, Daphne and Hermione saw yet another troll charging them. The girls dove to the side to avoid the impact of the truly massive club the troll held, wincing as they slammed onto the stone floor a few feet away.
On the other side of the room, Henry, Blaise, and Adrian were battling the biggest troll of all, and this one had the advantage of armor of some sort, wielding two clubs and swinging at them constantly.
The boys were putting up a very good fight, however, dodging and weaving while sending off attacks of their own.
Just after he'd sent another Stinging Hex at the troll's eyes, Adrian saw the other troll swing its club at Hermione. Evidently, Draco saw it as well, because he ran to her side and shoved her out of its path, sprawling across the floor as the heavy weapon descended.
Draco's howl echoed hauntingly through the room as the club smashed his legs.
Adrian saw it all.
He began to vibrate, a blindingly white light pulsating around him as his shock grew to anger.
The whites of his eyes turned black, and a whirlwind began to slowly swirl around his feet as his anger grew to rage.
Henry was engulfed in shadow, his hazel eyes turning white, and his screams of surprised fear mingled with Adrian's screams of fury, creating a hauntingly discordant harmony.
And then, the trolls began to tremble, slowly at first and then with more and more frequency. When the light met shadow, it was bright in the room, so bright that the others feared they would be blinded.
And then, everything was gray as a shockwave- like thunder without sound- ripped through the chamber, knocking the children to the ground and forcing them to cover their heads.
When Hermione dared look up again, the trolls were splattered everywhere, even on their robes. She gagged as she accidentally inhaled, and slipped out of her school robe, which was covered in a grey mush that she really didn't want to think about.
Draco was still screaming, and Hermione could see why: his legs were completely smashed, a bloody pool growing around them.
Adrian wobbled where he stood across the room, blinking confusedly, as was Blaise, who after a moment, collapsed to the ground, completely unconscious. Daphne was moaning quietly, but remaining motionless on the cold stone floor.
Henry shuddered violently and sat up, gripping his head in his hands.
"H-Henry?" she asked, voice cracking with fear.
"Yeah?" he asked. She jumped a bit: his voice reverberated and hummed through several different octaves.
"I-I think they're knocked out," she stammered, slightly stunned. His hazel eyes were a glowing white, and he seemed to float through the air like a ghost.
'The influx of power…'
The phrase they'd used to explain their dual hospitalizations echoed through her head: Henry was a sponge when it came to excess magic, and Adrian practically radiated it.
She sucked in a breath: Henry was sucking the magic right out of their friend, like some magical parasite.
She needed to get him away from here.
"Try the door, and call Ron for help," she ordered.
He nodded, and the door burst into splinters as he approached it and calmly glided outside.
"Uhn," Adrian groaned, knees buckling beneath him as he tried to move toward his brother.
She leaped to her feet and ran to Draco's side.
He was deathly pale, and he seemed to have passed out from the pain.
"Henry, we need to get Draco to the Hospital Wing! Now!" she screamed.
Draco began to float above the ground, and his limp body zoomed into the other room.
"Her-Hermione," Adrian coughed, looking down at his ripped and gory shirt. "It- it hurts."
She looked and almost passed out herself, for his shirt was turned scarlet with blood, and a shard of troll bone was lodged in his chest, just below his ribcage on the right side, evidently from when the trolls had exploded. The wounds from the keys had also reopened, and he was turning as pale as his brother. "I-I can't…"
"Henry" she screamed, catching Adrian as he fell forward, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. "Henry!"
The boy glided back into the room, magic crackling around him like lightning.
"Henry, he's dying, he's losing too much blood!" she cried. "I don't know any healing spells! We can't help him!"
"Move," Henry rumbled, stretching his hands toward Adrian.
Adrian shuddered and wheezed in her arms as she carefully lowered him to the ground and backed away.
Henry's hands glowed blue, and he laid them gently on his friend, who twitched and bucked, and eventually began to scream as red, glistening steam rose above him, along with a gray dust that Hermione could only hope was the troll bone.
Henry held steady through all of this, even as the red mist seeped back into his wounds and his skin seemed to sew itself back together. The only indication of the power he used was that his glowing white eyes slowly faded back to their original hazel.
Adrian was squirming wildly now, having re-absorbed most of his lost blood, and thus his energy.
"Henry, you can stop."
Hermione turned and saw a harried-looking Ron standing in the shadows, calm and collected as ever.
The tall redhead laid a large, freckle-covered hand on his smaller friend's shoulder, squeezing it lightly. "You can stop, mate."
Henry seemed to exhale, and he returned to normal, leaning back against Ron's leg for support as he breathed heavily.
Adrian blinked and sat up, squinting through his glasses. "I-I can't see anything! Why can't I see?" he cried.
Hermione slowly removed the glasses. "I think that Henry may have healed more than your cuts, Adrian," she said quietly, smiling at Henry.
"Henry?" Adrian said, looking over at his friend and seeming amazed at how well he could see him without his glasses.
Henry glanced up.
"Thank you, so very much."
"I-it's never a problem, Ade."
"Right!" Ron said loudly, clapping his hands together. "Now that this touching scene is over, what do you say we take the others to the Hospital Wing before we all die?"
"We can't, we have to get the Stone!" Henry said, pulling himself to his feet.
"Henry, Draco and Neville are really badly hurt. They have to go back," Hermione said.
"And so they have. Blaise and Daphne are with them," Henry smirked. "They should be nearly there by now."
"So, you really want to keep going? After everything that's happened?" Hermione asked slowly.
The blond and the raven-haired boys nodded firmly, and Ron merely set his jaw stubbornly.
She sighed.
One day, all these boys would be the death of her…
They edged toward the door, cautiously, unsure of what lay beyond it.
"On the count of three," Ron breathed, drawing his wand once more.
"One."
"Two."
"THREE!"
The four of them burst into the room, yelling their various battle cries, and they came up against;
Potions.
Ron flopped to the ground. "Oh, come on! I think I prefer the trolls!"
Hermione snorted at his antics and grabbed a slip of paper that lie on top of a beaker near her.
Just as they'd all entered the room, black flames sprang up behind them, and purple flames ahead.
Hermione yelped, and Ron dragged her bodily away from the fire.
Removing his robe, Ron ripped off a tattered sleeve and tossed it onto the flames, where it burst into flame and disappeared within moments. At Hermione's questioning look, he shrugged. "I wanted to be sure that they were real."
She snorted again and began to read;
"Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,
Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,
One among us seven will let you move ahead,
Another will transport the drinker back instead,
Two among our number hold only nettle wine,
Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line.
Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,
To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:
First, however slyly the poison tries to hide
You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;
Second, different are those who stand at either end,
But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;
Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,
Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;
Fourth, the second left and the second on the right
Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight."
"Oh good," Ron said, mock cheerfully. "I'm glad that that isn't confusing at all!"
"It really isn't, Ron," Adrian said, peering over Hermione's left shoulder, Henry looking over on the other side of her. "Look, there are seven bottles, beakers, and jars, right? Well, we can definitely say that this is Uncle Sev's puzzle."
The boys both chuckled and rested their chins on her shoulders, still reading the riddle.
Hermione rolled her eyes and began pacing in front of the potions, and the boys fell forward, their chinrest having moved rather abruptly, and Ron, who had been standing across the room, burst out laughing.
Henry scowled, and Adrian shot a Tickling Hex at the redhead, smirking as it hit him right in the ribs.
"If you're done," Hermione huffed, arms crossed, though the fond smile she was trying to hide ruined her serious expression. "I've figured it out."
The boys whipped around to stare at her in amazement.
"This," she said proudly, holding a tiny vial of potion in her palm, "is the potion that will allow two- yes, two, Ronald- of us to move forward."
Moving to the right end of the table, she picked up a round bottle and rolled it lazily in her hand. "This should allow the other two of us to get back through to the troll room."
"So, who moves forward…" Adrian started.
"…and who goes back?" Henry finished.
So, this is the third-to-last chapter…
Comments?
And, before I am bombarded, yes, Henry used Adrian's own formerly-excess magic to heal him. This wouldn't work for Draco or Neville because Adrian's magic was specifically attuned to only him, and the sheer force of what Henry did would have overwhelmed them, potentially causing even more damage to them than was already done.
Keep in mind, Adrian's magic is very potent, and he has been dealing with that fact for his entire life. He can deal with it, and other people- unless they are like Henry- cannot handle it.
Thank you, and I shall return soon!
-TheNefariousMe
